Tales of the World: Radiant Mythology 3
by Lovett-Undertaker
Summary: The fragments of stars are constantly raining down; with the surrounding constellation we meet under the starry skies. Together we form a tight bond in hopes that we will remain close to each other's heart. /A couple of short stories/
1. A Woman's Anger

"Gees you're annoying!" Luke shouted from his room, annoyed by his own brother's infuriating comments. The two, Luke and Asch, glared into each other's eyes with vicious thoughts of killing each other. The descender stood in the door way, an eye brow arched and her head cocked to the side. She didn't understand why the two brothers were always at each other's throats. "Why are you even in my room?"

"Hmph," Asch grunted, "I'm here to see Master Van, but by just looking at your face annoy me."

_'But…don't you two have the same face…?_' the descender batted her eyelids.

"Stop fighting you two." Tear intervened, "There's already a lot of stuff going on and the last thing we need is you two arguing." Luke and Asch fell silent and turned away from each other.

"Um…" Leora broke the silence, "Did I come at a bad time?" she smiled nervously.

"No not at all." Tear smiled back to her.

"Leora!" Luke's expression brightened up. He ran up to her with his eyes sparkling. "What're you doing here?"

"I just came to ask if any of you would like to join me in one of the quest's I've taken up on."

"A quest, huh?" Van turned to her and looked to Luke, "Luke, why don't you go with her? This is a good opportunity for you to gain experience in the actual battle."

"Are you going too, Master Van?" the middle aged man shook his head.

"Since both you and Leora are swordsmen, why not have her show you the ropes? You don't mind, do you Leora?"

"Nope, no problem at all." Yuri walked up beside Leora and placed his hand on her shoulder.

"Hey, are you ready to go?" he asked, "'Cause I'm all set." Leora looked back to Yuri and smiled happily.

"Almost, just wait a bit longer." She then looked back to Luke, "Let's go?" Luke glared at Yuri.

"Why…?"

"Hm?" Leora blinked, "'Why' what?"

"Why is HE coming along?" Luke shouted as he pointed his finger at Yuri.

"Oh? What's wrong 'young master'?" Yuri smirked; Yuri enjoys teasing Luke because of his spoiled and bratty personality. Leora sighed, she knew the two didn't start in good terms and it can be entertaining, but it can get a bit ridiculous.

"Will you two please not start?" she furrowed her eyebrows.

"I'm not going if you're going to have that MAN with us!"

"That's fine, we can get the job done faster without you holding us back."

"What was that?" The descender smile became threatening; an ominous aura surrounded her.

"Will you two stop it before I lose it and throw you both overboard?" she asked politely as Yuri and Luke immediately silenced themselves. Guy wrinkled his eyebrows as he shivered from Leora's smile.

"Scary…" Guy muttered as he turned away from them.

"Well, shall we go?" she asked them as she linked her arms around both Yuri and Luke.

"Have a safe trip." Said Van as Tear would sigh, "Don't worry,she'll be fine."

"It's not Leora that I'm worried about…if Luke and Yuri were to start again…"

"Yeah," Guy smiled nervously in agreement, "Let's just hope they return in one piece."

* * *

**Sorry that this is so short, but really Yuri teases Long Hair Luke a couple of times in ToW3.**

**And in ToW3 Luke and Asch are twin brothers. And boy...do they fight a lot. Almost every skit that you have the two of them together in, they're at each other's throat. Amusing...really.**


	2. A Disquietful Savior

"If everyone in this world wants to live together, why do they hurt each other? Why do they separate?" The descender stood at Baneltea's deck, asking herself a question that has been eating her away after seeing various actions by certain humans. The descender had little to no knowledge about certain things in Luminasia. The only thing she understood was that she has a world to protect. Hate, Jealousy, and Greed were foreign to this young 'in; the only form of love she understands is the love she's always had locked up inside of her, her attachment to the world. Gazing out into the vast sea, the descender became lost in thought.

"Yo." A voice broke her out of trance, "What're you doing up here, Leora?" Leora turned around; it was Yuri who called out to her. Yuri is one of her most treasured companion in the guild, Ad Libitum. Leora and Yuri have always fought together, with little to no disagreements. With just a glance, you could tell they were close.

"Oh Yuri," she smiled to him, " I was getting some air."

"Some air, huh?" he stood next to her and leaned on the rails, "That was a pretty intense face for just getting some air." Leora's face stiffened.

"…" Leora sighed, "Gees Yuri, nothing ever gets past your insightful eyes, huh? Just like Jade."

"Hey, don't lump me in with that guy," he sulked, "So? What's on your mind?"

"It's about this world…human behavior is so…odd…" Leora looked down at the rails as she scratched her thumb against it. "I don't understand it at all, if everyone in this world wants to live together, then why do they hurt each other?" Yuri looked away.

"Who knows, not even I understand the concept of human behavior."

"But you're human yourself."

"And you're the legendary descender, you should know stuff about the world and yourself but when you first used your powers you didn't understand how or why you have them." Leora looked down, "Just because I'm human doesn't mean I'll understand why people do what they do."

"You're right, I'm sorry." She sighed, "I guess I should've thought it out better. It's like me and Razalis. We're both descenders of two completely different worlds and as descenders we both love our world but we don't see eye to eye. She's trying to restore her world and I'm trying to protect Luminesia; Two completely different goals that will always clash with another."

"But you're right."

"Maybe in our view, but for her we're in the wrong... You know? When she asked me to help her, I understood how she felt. If Luminesia were to end up like Juldia, I'd probably…do the same thing…" Leora trailed off, feared by the thought of sacrificing lives just so the world tree would live on. She gripped onto her shirt over her chest, "I don't want that to happen…" she hung her head, "I don't want to sacrifice everyone in Luminesia, in Ad Libitum. It's just too cruel…" Yuri ruffled her hair.

"There's no way we're going to let that happen, so don't worry. Everyone, including us, are doing our best on protecting this world. Like hell are we going to let Razalis have her way and turn all of our attempts into a waste of effort." Leora nodded, she smiled.

"Um…" a boy of blond hair and green eyes entered the deck, "Sorry to bother you…but Miss. Leora, needs to see you about a request."

"Oh, okay then thank you Emil." She smiled to him, "I'll see you later Yuri," she waved to him and gently took hold of Emil's wrist, "Let's go?"

"Ah, okay." Emil would nod and follow the descender down to the lobby.

* * *

**Orz, sorry that most of my stories revolve around Yuri. He's my favorite 3**

**I'll be sure to give some of the other casts of Tales of Series some of the spot light soon.**

**Maybe Emil and Ratatosk Emil owo!**

**Anyway thanks for reading~ Please review~**

**Tales of the World 3 + Yuri Lowell (C) Bandai Namco**

**Leora (C) Me**


	3. Alleviation

"The stars look great tonight." The purple clad male spoke as he gazed up at the starry night skies. A female, almost of his height, stood a few feet away from him. She gave him a nod and walked to his side. The two stood together in the breezy autumn night, admiring the blanket of stars covering the once blue skies. "So, tomorrow…" the male grew quiet as his gazed fell to the ground, "You'll head off to the world tree." The descender gave him a nod; the male sighed, "You're not scared? There's a chance you might die and never come back."

"I'm not scared. I have a world to save, and friends to protect. As long as I have you all, everything will be fine." She gave him a smile. The male would walk up to her and tap his knuckles against her forehead.

"You're a crazy girl, but I don't mind. You're the kind of crazy that I can handle." He smiled to her, "Now Judy on the other hand…this one time we were running from…" as the male continued on with his story from his travels, the descender would smile. The two shared a laugh, and gazed upon the stars once more. The male's eyes fell to his companion who's standing next to him. His eyes widened, the smile was a sorrowful look. "Leora…"

"Hm?" she turned to him and cocked her head to the side, "What is it Yuri?" Yuri sighed.

"Don't 'What is it Yuri?' me." He shook his head as he walked up to her and held her by the shoulders. "Leora, you're scared aren't you...?" She shook her head, "Don't lie to me."

"I'm not lying." Leora placed her hand over his, "I'm not scared."

"Then what's with that look? You look like you're about to cry." Her eyes fell to the floor.

"I'm…" she gripped his hand, "I'm sorry…" she buried her face into his chest.

"Leora…" he gently pats her head woefully. The male knew of her fate from the legends of the previous descenders. Once she leaves for the world tree, she may never return. Yuri frowned, frustrated that all he can do for his dear friend is listening to her worries and fight beside her through one battle after another.

"I am scared… Once I defeat Razalis the world will rejuvenate, and there will no longer be a need for a descender…" tears would trickle down her cheeks, "I'll be done with my duties and disappear…"

"Leora…you really enjoy living, don't you?" she would nod.

"I want to watch the world, with you and everyone in Ad Libitum. I don't want to sleep just yet…" Yuri grew wordless as he watched the female cry softly onto his bare chest. This person crying right now is not the descender that he's accustomed to, but a frightened child. "I don't want to disappear…!" Yuri held her in a tight embrace, saddened by how useless he is. There was nothing he could do to insure her return back to the guild, back to his friends, back to him.

The quiet sobs fell into the sound of the crashing waves. Leora pressed her hands against Yuri's chest and pushed herself out of the embrace. Wiping away the tears, she smiled to Yuri, "Thank you, Yuri."

"Are you feeling better?"

"Yes," She nodded to him. "I'm sorry to have let you see me in that state." Yuri shook his head, smirking.

"It's fine. I got to see something rare." he walked up to her and wiped away a speck of tear from the corner of her eye.

"Yuri…thank you…for being my friend. I'm going to get ready for my early departure."

"Alright." He said, as he leaned his hand against the railings, "Night."

"Good night." She said and left. Yuri turned towards the sea and leaned his arms and body against the rails and muttered to himself.

"…_'friend' _huh?" he sighed and stared at the moon.

* * *

**And this all came into my mind after reading some verse I found off of Gamefaqs.**

**Thanks for reading and please review!**


	4. Dual Personalities

**New person, new chapter. This chapter is all about the descender and Emil's relationship.**

**And of course Ratatosk will pop in once in a while.**

* * *

Blonde, green eyes, clothed in purple, and an adorable personality is usually how Leora would describe Emil Castagnier, but when he's in battle it's like he becomes a completely different person. His soft voice would become deep and rough, and his meek appearance would become hard-edged and brutal. The descender didn't know what to make of it; dual-personalities are a completely new thing for her. She would have trouble telling when it's the usual Emil or the rough Emil, because of that she does not approach the blonde that much. The only time they would speak to each other if it has something to do with a request or the current events. Leora felt guilty for neglecting Emil, because of that she has taken his request on training against Axe Beaks in the mines.

"Rrraaahh!" Emil's roar echoed through the cave as he brought his blade down upon an Axe Beak. Blood would spurt out of its corpse and stained his clothes, the boy would smirk, "Weak." As he stood in glory, another Axe Beak would float up into the air and charged right at him. Quickly, Leora would aim and shoot the monster down from the air before it would make impact on the boy's body.

"Are you alright?" she asked. The descender had swapped her job from swordsmen to gunmen, her specialty.

"Could you be any slower?" Emil would shout at Leora, annoyed with the descender's timing. "And you said that guns are your specialty, Iria's better than you!" The descender would flinch, Emil seemed more vexed than usual.

"I'm sorry…" Leora looked down as she twiddled her thumbs. The blonde sighed, he closed his red eyes and once he opens the color would switch over to green.

"…?" Emil blinked, "Leora? What's wrong?" he asked as he walked up to her and looked at her I the eye. Emil would reach out to her and quickly Leora would wince. Emil gasped and lowered his head, "…um…did…something happen?" Leora shook her head.

"It's…nothing." She looked away, "That was the last of the monsters that you requested to slay, so let's return to the guild." Emil nodded and the two made their way back to the guild.

XXX

"Emil, darling~!" Marta threw herself onto Emil as soon as he entered his room. "I missed you~ I wish you took me with you on your training." She pouted.

"Ahaha… Sorry Marta," Emil chuckled and looked back to Leora who's standing at the doorway, "Oh before I forget, let me give you the reward." As Marta released Emil from her grasp, he walked over to the table and handed Leora a few items that he promised. "Thanks for helping me and...um…I'm sorry for what happened…"

"…Emil…um…to tell the truth, after the first time we fought together, you kind of scared me… You became a completely different person!"

"A different person?" he cocked his head to the side, "What do you mean by that?"

"You're more reckless and you seem to lust for blood… Earlier, when we were fighting, an Axe Beak was about to ram into you and before it could, I shot it down and you yelled at me about how slow I was and how I was terrible at what I do." The blonde's eyes widened as so did Marta's, silence filled the room.

"Wait…hold on Leora! My Emil would _NEVER_ say those things!" Marta yelled, breaking the silence. "Don't talk bad about Emil like that!"

"Marta wait," he pleaded and looked to Leora, "Now that you mention it, Miss. Leora…Lloyd mentioned a drastic change in my behavior and how I attacked him. I don't really get what's going on, but I'm really sorry… I didn't really mean to say those things. I hope you're not mad at me…" Leora shook her head.

"I'm not mad," she softly smiled to him, "I'm sorry to have avoided you for so long. Why don't we start over as friends?"

"F-Friends…?" the blonde's face showed a tint of pink on his cheeks, "Y-You're willing to become my friend…?" She nodded.

"Of course!" Tears would form at the corner of Emil's eyes. "Eh? Why are you crying?"

"I-I'm just so happy…besides Ruka and Caius, I've finally made another friend…I'm so happy…" As the blonde shed tears of joy, something stirred inside the descender, her face showed a tint of pink. She embraced Emil, overflowed with fuzzy feelings.

"So cute…" she smiled as she rubbed her cheek against his golden hair.

"H-Hey, Leora!" Marta pouted and Emil's face would flush red.

"M-Miss. Leora…y-your…chest… They're sort of making it hard to breathe…" The descender unconstrained the blonde.

"Oh! Sorry," she giggled, "You were just so cute I couldn't help it!"

"Hey! He's _MY_ cutie Emil!" Leora giggled once more.

"Yes, yes."

* * *

**I really love how cute Meek Emil is~ he's so adorable!**

**When you start a converastion with him sometimes he'd say "Etto...ano..." which is "Erm...um..."**

**SO CUTE. =w=**

**And you know, when Ratatosk Emil comes out all I can say is "Awwww shietttt, RUN LLOYD RUN!"**

**Tales of the World 3 + Emil (C) Bandai Namco**

**Leora (C) Me**


	5. Pride

**Yyyyeeesss! I finally updated! Woo~**

**it's been so long, and I did this in a hurry so please don't expect much...**

* * *

"This is it…" Leora muttered to herself as she fastened her grip onto her weapon. The descender dug her feet into the ground, ready to give her the push that she needs to tackle down her opponent.

"Are you ready, Leora?" Yuri asked with a smirk on his face. He stood in his stance, his sword perched on his shoulder, and glanced to his friend. The two were in the middle of a coliseum match against Cless and Lloyd. At first it was a friendly wager but soon after it became something serious, because it was Jade who ignited the flames in their hearts.

"Don't go easy on us!" the dual-swordsmen spoke to the descender, "It won't be a real fight if you don't go all out!"

"Yeah, of course," Yuri replied, "Same goes for you, Lloyd and Cless." The two said swordsmen chuckled, with a dash they clashed with their pre-determined opponents. As Cless swung his sword, Leora quickly ducked underneath and shot the ground. Underneath the blonde's feet was a puddle of water that suddenly grew into a rapid whirlpool, sending the knight up into the air. Pointing her gun up into the air, she shot the male a few times. Concentrating on the blonde, the male cladded in red swooped up behind her and swung his sword, but luckily Yuri came in between the two and blocked Lloyd's attack that was meant for the descender.

"Attacking from behind? Now that's not fair~." He said with a smirk as he pushed Lloyd back.

"Thanks for the backup, Yuri!" she smiled to him as he nodded. Leora continued to unleash a swarm of bullets upon Cless, leaving the poor man rendered defenseless as he took a large amount of damage.

"Aaauugh!" the blonde screamed in pain as the brown hair male looked up to his partner.

"Where are you looking?" Yuri called out to him and unleashed one of his artes at the red clad male. "Ghost Wolf!" he shouted, bringing Lloyd's attention back to the raven. Fast enough for him to see Yuri bring his sword down upon himself, knocking him out. "Heh." He smiled in triumph.

"Twin bullet!" she screamed, sending another swarm of bullets to the blonde. Once the pain was too much for him to bare he fell to the ground beside Lloyd, unconscious. Leora and Yuri looked to each other with a smile on their face. Wiping away the sweat from her face, Leora and Yuri bumped their fists against one another.

"Nice job, Partner!" the two said to each other in unison.

"So what should we do with these two…?" Leora asked as she looked at Lloyd and Cless.

"Well, I guess we'll take them to the infirmary."

"Okay then, I'll take Lloyd since he looks light." Yuri nodded. Carrying Lloyd over her shoulder and Yuri doing the same with Cless, they both head back to the ship.

* * *

**Okay so...what do I say first. let's make a list.**

**1) Sorry about making Leor and Yuri OP.**  
**2) Sorry to the Lloyd and Cless fans. xD**  
**3) Sorry it's so short even though you guys have been waiting for a new chapter for so long!**

**Thanks for reading though!**  
**If you want to, you can suggest some ideas for me cause I totally ran out.**

**Or I can just close this story for good...that works too...**


	6. 私の名前はノクチス

**GENDERBENDERSFTW-shot-**

* * *

Leora, with her eyebrows furrowed, stood nervously inside a contraption that Harold and Rita had invented. Knowing how some of their experiments would fail from time to time, she was a bit scared that the machine would blow up on her, "Erm…are you sure this is safe…?" she asked as Rita huffed. The brunette placed her hands on her hips.

"Of course it is! If it wasn't I wouldn't let you step inside!" she said, trying to calm the descender down.

"Will you…fill me in on what this machine will do to me again?" the raven asked.

"It'll copy and save all the documents you have stored inside of you and put it down on this here computer as data." Harold replied as she types on the keyboards. "Alright all set! Let's get this show on the road!" she said as she held her hand up in the air.

"W-WAIT I'M NOT RE—" she shouted as Harold slammed her index finger down on the enter button.

"Huh? Did you say something?" the magenta haired female asked as the machine began to light up. Leora became stiff as the pupils in Rita's eyes began to give off a glow.

"It's working!" she shouted as she pumped her fists, but once she said that the machine began to give off smoke. "What?" her eyes widened as Leora blinked.

"What? What's wrong?" she looked up and noticed the machine giving off some smoke. "Uwah!" as soon as she screamed the machine blew up, and filled the room with smoke.

"Leora!" Rita shouted as she coughed from the smoke. The door flew open as boy with short silver hair and Yuri busted in.

"What happen—Woah! What's with all this smoke?" Yuri shouted as he waved his hand. The boy coughed and did the same.

"W-What happened?" he asked. As the smoke cleared up they noticed an unfamiliar person in the room where Leora once stood. "Um...who's that?" he asked as he pointed his finger to that person.

"Who's wha-…" Rita looked to where the boy was pointing at. "Wha-?"

"Cough, cough, this is why I didn't want to go through with this—huh? M-My voice?" the person placed their hand over their throat and noticed a small bump. "Wha-what…?"

"Le…Leora…is that you…?" Yuri asked as he stepped into the room.

"Huh?" Rita raised a brow.

"O-Oh Yuri! Wh-What happened to me?" Leora answered, scared since Yuri questioned about her identity.

"My, oh my." Harold smiled as she walked up to Leora. "Seems like our little experiment swapped your gender completely!"

"WHYDOYOUSOUNDSOHAPPY?" Leora screamed, shocked by the news. He collapsed to his knees as tears welled up in his eyes. He is obviously not happy about his gender being swapped.

"M-Miss- Er Mr. Leora, are you okay?"

"DOILOOKOKAYRUKA?" He screamed again as Ruka flinched. Yuri got down on one knee and sighed.  
"Calm down, Leora." He said, "…It's kind of weird calling you by a female name."

"But it's MY name…" he sniffed.

"But Yuri's right. What should your new name be…?"

"WHY A NEW NAME?" he shouted.

"Well, we don't know if this change is going to be permanent or not, so for now we'll call you by something else!" Harold explained as Leora sniffed, "How about Barbatos?"

"HOW ABOUT NO!" he screamed, there's no way in hell is he going to share a name with HIM.

"It was a joke! A joke! Don't get so worked up over it~" she chuckled.

"Well…how about Hershel? And you can wear a nice silk hat while solving mysteries!" Rita suggested.

"Oh, that sounds nice!" Harold cheered.

"S-Something better than that please…" he replied, giving in to the four. As Rita and Harold continued to throw out names to Leora, Yuri continued to ponder as Ruka did the same since it sounded like fun.

"Umm…" Ruka spoke up, "What about Noctis?"

"Oh that sounds nice, seeing as how it means night and your hair color is blue-black and your eyes are blue, it works just fine." Yuri smiled.

"Noctis…huh?" Leora repeated the name to himself. "I like it…" he smiled.

"Noctis?" Rita scoffed, "Well I guess it's alright."

"Not bad Ruka!" Harold praised the boy as he smiled shyly.

"I guess I'm Noctis now…" he chuckled.

"Yep, now we'll have to give you a change of clothes. That Radiant gunner outfit doesn't suit you."

"O-OH!" Noctis covered himself as his face flushed red. "R-Right!" he gave them a nod and exited the room with Ruka and Yuri.

* * *

**Don't ask me please I sorta like genderbenders. They're fun.**

**The title is Japanese.**

**HERE'S A PUZZLE! What does it mean in English?**

**By the way, did you notice a bit of Professor Layton? I'm sure the name _HERSHEL_ gave it away!  
It's his first name!**

**Hershel (C) Level-5**

**Tales of the World (C) Bandai**

**Leora (C) Me**


	7. Constantly Digressing

"What are…'parents'?" the descender cocked his head to the side curiously as Asbel, Kyle, and Collette fluttered their eyelids in disbelief at how their friend asked them such a question.

"Le- oh, Noctis-kun you don't know what parents are?" she furrowed her eyebrows as the descender shook his head.

"Well," Asbel began, "They're basically people who watch over you with guidance, making sure you go down the right path."

"Oh! So Yuri's like a parent to me?" he smiled happily, thinking that he understood. Kyle furrowed his eyebrows and averted his eyes as he scratched the back of his head.

"I don't think so. Yuri seems more like a brother to me."

"Or a sister!" Collette jumped in.

"Huh?" Asbel and Kyle eyes widened at Collette.

"Erm, Collette-chan. No offense, but I'm pretty sure Yuri-san's a GUY." Kyle spoke with a nervous chuckle.

"I know, but think about it! Yuri-san has long hair and Noctis-kun now has short hair. So wouldn't it make more sense for Yuri to be the sister?"

"C-Collette-chan…I don't understand where you're going here…" Noctis felt a drop of cold sweat fall.

"If you're talking about the length of the hair, then what about Zelos-san?"

"Zelos-san's hair isn't that very long, but Yuri-san's hair length is perfect!"

"Huh…so if Yuri-san was a girl…" Kyle muttered to himself as he tries to imagine with Asbel. Noctis tilted his head to the side, wondering how the conversation suddenly changed.

"E-Erm, c-can we get back to explaining parents to me…?"

"But Noctis-kun! Isn't this conversation more interesting?" Collette smiled as the descender sighed. He supposes that he'll have to put his question aside and ask someone else later.

"Speaking of swapped genders, Noctis-kun how long will this last?" asked Asbel.

"Oh, they say it might wear off soon, but just to make sure they're building a machine to fix this."

"Aww, well I guess we'll have to enjoy M-Leora for now!"

"…'M-Leora'…?" Kyle blinked.

"Yeah! I have a really hard time trying to call Leora by the name Noctis, so I thought calling her 'M-Leora!'"

"Well, whatever works for you Collette-chan." Asbel smiled, chuckling.

* * *

**I honestly thought this was going to be a straight conversation. But I should've known that when you have Collette in the conversation, the topic never sticks.**

**Tales of the World (C) Bandai**

**Leora (C) Me**


	8. What Is Love?

**Hi~, just letting you guys know that I'm alive~**

**I've just been having difficulties with coming up with a plot...very sorry...**

**But hey! Look! We now have Jade, Guy (again), and Zelos!**

* * *

Eyes, gawking at the teenager who had just taken interest in this sort of subject. Zelos, Guy, and Jade (who actually showed no change; only his head tilting down as the light from the ceiling reflected against the lenses of his glasses, and a brow, quirked). Guy and Zelos continued to stare at the descender, who has short green hair with green pupils to match, big round glasses, bunny ears on her head (because Anise and Ange said it would be adorable), and clad in a green one piece (a spoil she achieved from when she defeated the Archer; a Radiant Descender). The two were in disbelief, how can someone as old as her not know what love is? Considering the fact that she looks eighteen!

"A-Ahaha, Leora you're just kidding…right?" the blonde was the first to answer, then it was Zelos.

"My darling, if you wanna learn what_love_ is, why didn't you just say so~? I can show you tonight in my roo—" and the redhead came to an abrupt stop once Jade smacked him on the side of his head as he pushed the bridge of his glasses back. Zelos lifted his head, with his hand over the spot the brunette smacked him, and shot a glare.

"What was that for!" he demanded an answer as Jade smiled, replying in his usual musical tone.

"Oops! I'm sorry, my hand slipped. Did that hurt?"

"Of course it did!" As the two become absorbed in a heated argument, Guy laughed nervously as he looked back to Leora. The servant wasn't sure how he should take this. Seriously? Or as a joke? But seeing the expression on the descender's face, those green eyes, just staring back at Guy for an answer. She blinked once, then again.

She had the patients of an angel, didn't she? By now, people would've demanded for an answer. And so, without further ado, Guy sighed and decided to explain this difficult topic.

"Uh, well…love is…" where should he begin though? Guy rubbed the back of his neck, averting his gaze away from the greenette, as he tries to come up with something. "Well I guess you can say that 'love' is a deep romantic affection, or something you take a great interest in."

"Ooh…" the descender nodded, showing that the blonde has her full attention as he continues.

"Yeah…" he trailed off and decided to ask her something, "Leora, is there anyone that you love?"

The greenette paused, folding her arms with her index finger tapping her chin. She was in deep thought, trying to come up with an answer. Then it hit her, she realized something. "I love our world, Luminesia, the guild Ad Libitum, and our guild members!" she said, smiling in bliss. Guy chuckled at her innocence.

"That's not what I'm asking for, though." the blonde pointed out, leading the descender in confusion as she tilted her head to the side. "I mean love, as in romantic affection."

"Oh…hmm…" the descender looked down, her eyes closed as she thought about the matter once more. Zelos, done with fighting Jade, came back over with a large grin on his face.

"Of course my little precious Leora loves me! I mean, who doesn't love the Great Zelos Wilde—!" Once again, Jade interrupted him with a playful laugh. "Gees old man let me finish!" he huffed, chasing after the Colonel again around the lobby of the ship.

"I'm…not sure…" she replied, in a quiet voice.

"Hm? Did you say something?" the blonde would widen his eye as he tried to pick up on what Leora had said.

"I'm not sure." Leora said, a bit louder, making Zelos and Jade come to a halt. Zelos cleared his throat as Jade pushed his glasses back and walked over to Leora. "How does…being in love feel?" Sadly the three of them didn't really know how to answer her question. They had their own reasons as to why they can't explain.

All four of them, stood there in complete silence till Guy spoke up, breaking the ice.

"Well, I'm sure you'll figure it out some day." he said, trying to push away the topic.

"Yeah, there's no need to rush on this sort of thing." Zelos agreed with a smile on his face as Jade smiled as well.

"But, my, Leora. What brought this up?"

"Weellll…" she rolled her eyes with her hands behind her back, clasped. The descender leaned back a bit as she stood straight looking back at the three. "I guess it's because of Marta always fawning over Emil, and um…she, Colette, and Cheria were talking about pairings. Saying that so and so are so deeply in love, or something like that." The three raised a brow in unison, curious as to what those three had to say.

"Ooh~?" Zelos was the first to show interest, "What did my darling kittens say?" Leora shook her head with a smile as she leaned forward with a finger over her lips, showing that it was to be kept in secret. "C'mon~ you can tell me, Leora dearest!"

"No~pe!" she said in a cheerful tune, "I'm sorry, Zelos but I promised them that I'd keep it a secret."

"Aww, but Leor—"

"—Now now," Guy smiled, "If she said she can't tell us, then that's that."

"What? C'mon guys you can't be serious! Aren't you curious as well?"

"Come now, Zelos. We can't continue to push our most valuable member of Ad Libitum for info that she promised to keep! If we do, that might damage her reputation~." the redhead sighed, as he scratched the back of his head, giving in.

"Fine, fine! I'll just go ask Marta darling myself~"

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**Sorry but I had to stop here, I'm writing this at four a.m.**

**I'm not sure why, I guess it's my muse that began kicking in! Yeesh!**

**But I hope you enjoyed this new chapter!**

**Zelos Wilder, Guy Cecil, Jade Curtiss, Radiant Mythology (C) Bandai Namco**

**Leora (C) Me**


	9. Problems

**Yaaayy another one!**

**And we're back to Emil and Yuri with a bit of Kyle!**

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The descender sat there, on the couch in their room, trying to grasp why Emil has been acting so odd lately. Randomly lashing out at Lloyd, talking about revenge (yet Lloyd had no clue as to what Emil was going on about), and giving others the cold shoulder as they greet him in the hallway. All of these actions were too weird, and the other guild members came up to not just Marta, but Leora as well (and during her conversation with Yuri no less!). And the one who was to inform the two was Kyle, who witnessed Emil's (ridiculously large) change.

Yuri and Leora, eye lids fluttered in unison, stood there looking at Kyle in disbelief, but it seems like the blonde wasn't making it up.

"I'll go have a chat with him." Yuri spoke up as he turned away, heading for the ladder leading to the second floor. Leora reached out to him and grabbed his shoulder. Peering back over his shoulder, he saw the descender shook her head.

"I'll go. I mean, what if something goes wrong and you two get into a fight?" Even though Yuri was the most responsible person in her eyes, she knew quite well how cynical and sarcastic the raven can get. It's most likely the reason why he never got along with Luke in the first place (besides being well-known as a vigilante).

With a sigh, Yuri gave in. Out of the entire guild, Leora was the most responsible and mature person. Even with the fate of the world hung on her shoulder, all that pressure just because she was born as the Descender, she held a calm demeanor never questioning her meaning of birth. Always looking forward to a brighter future.

"Alright, but if anything happens let me know." he sighed, patting her on the back as she returned that sigh with a smile. You can tell how close these two were, so close that Kyle felt a bit out of place as he stood there and watched the two. As Leora left the room, Kyle glanced at Yuri (who was still looking over to where Leora descended) and spoke up.

"So...do you like Leora?" Yuri turned his head over to Kyle, his usual poker face, gone, as a tiny hint of pink appeared on his face and the tip of his ears.

"No! No, no way." with that sort of reply, Kyle grinned, ear-to-ear. You can hear Yuri curse under his breath for accidentally hinting the younger blonde of the (somewhat) obvious answer.

Emil and Ratatosk, two entirely different personas who share the same body. One was harsh while the other was meek. Of course, the two personas weren't known til Marta explained his 'Ratatosk Mode' to Leora (it was her attempt in trying to defend Emil). The descender was having quite a difficult time in grasping this though.

Emil, back against the couch with a sigh. He didn't mean for things to turn out this way, it just happened. He can't even remember the things Leora mentioned to the blonde. He's a bit...frightened now. All the friends he's made in the guild are now afraid to approach him. What if, what if Leora was the next person to turn her back to him? Will the rest of the guild follow suit? Emil wouldn't want that! Sure he has Marta, but...but Leora, after repairing their damaged relationship because of 'Ratatosk Mode', he didn't want to lose their friendship now...!

"M-Miss Leora..." he began, sitting up with his shoulders hunched over with his hands resting on his knee. "I'm...sorry." The descender lifted her head, a bit surprised about the sudden apology. "I-I didn't mean for things to turn out like this..." Emil clenched his hands till they turned pale. She could tell that he meant it.

Leora smiled kindly to the other as she walked up to him and gently brushed his hair with her hand. Emil looked up, his face flushed a bit from the touch. It was obvious that the blonde wasn't quite used to getting treated so...nice by others (besides Marta) thorough physical contact.

"It's alright, but I'm not the one you have to apologize to." Emil's eyes widened a bit as he realized that. He would have to apologize to the ones who dealt with his other self, and show the others that he meant no harm. And if it were to happen again... he looked back down.

"But...what if it happens again..." he voiced his concern as Leora smiled, warmly.

"If it happens again, then I'll vouch for you and so will Marta. We might even have to explain your 'Ratatosk Mode' to them." Emil nodded, trusting in her words. After all Leora _is_the most trusted guild member who always had a good head on her shoulder. People always came to her when it came to their troubles. "Thank you, Miss Leora."

...Troubles. Emil thought about it for a second, wouldn't Leora have troubles as well? Who did she always go to, to talk about it? Sure she always had that smile on her face, always positive and friendly. But surely she had some issues as well. "U-Um... I-If you have any troubles as well, please come talk to me! I-I'm not...sure if I could be of any help...but...I'll be here to listen!"

Leora giggled, happy to hear of this from Emil. She nodded and replied with a simple, "Yeah."

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**Once again, up at 4 a.m. writing stories!**

**Herp \ o /**

**Yuri, Kyle, Marta, RM3 (C) Bandai Namco**

**Leora (C) Me**


	10. Inferiority

**Just wanted to do something different this time! **

**And this chapter isn't revolving around Leora this time!**

**It's a Spada/Luca chapter (one of my favorite shipping)**

**Shonen-Ai**

**Just a warning to those who don't really like it.**

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"Yo, Luca watch out!" And before the pale-haired bookworm could do a thing, an arrow pierced through the head of the amphibian monster before it could even make contact to the blue clad male. "Aah!" he screamed and sighed of relief as he looked over to the one who shot the arrow, their leader, Leora who just gave him a smile to let him know that she got his back (and of course Luca smiled back, relieved). And from a distance, you can see a certain green clad delinquent, eyeing the two's friendship with a tiny bit of envy as he scoffed. He was the one who was supposed to protect him, and yet Luca almost got hurt.

Some shield he's supposed to be.

"Hey, if you two're done bein' all buddy-buddy, let's get goin', huh?" the greenette spoke as he sheathed his twin blades and slightly dug the tip of his shoes into the dirt. And Spada began to wonder why Luca brought him along. After all, Leora is a very capable archer, not to mention how she's skillful with every class there is.

Archer, Gunslinger, Warrior, Swordsman, Magic Knight, Fighter, Monk, etc….you name it, she's mastered it. It just made Spada feel a bit inferior (defiantly something he doesn't like since he takes pride in what he does) and he couldn't help but click his tongue at this brooding emotion, especially when he recalls their duel.

It was fair fight. Leora was a duel swordsman that day and Spada happened to be in the mood for a little fun, so he challenged Leora to see who's the best. Spada was fast and more experienced as a duel blader, but Leora…it was as if she was a born natural (even though she mainly uses a bow). And before Spada realized it, he was already on his back, sore from top to bottom, as Leora stood triumphant. This damaged his pride as a knight and as a Belforma.

Once they've slain their last monster, the three headed back to Baneltea and Leora separated herself from the two. The greenette sighed as he sluggishly made his way back to their room where he, Luca, Iria, and Ricardo were staying (while Luca quietly, nervously, followed behind).

The bookworm (over thinking things) feels as though that maybe, possibly, something was bothering the Greenette, putting him in a foul mood. "S-Spada, are you okay...?" the boy spoke as his friend looked over his shoulder.

"Huh? Oh, yeah I'm fine." Spada said, as he stopped in front of their door with a hand resting on top of the hilt of his blade. "Why? You overthinkin' things again?"

"N-No..."

"Hah, don't try to lie to me. You're horrible at that kinda stuff." he laughed, "S'nothin', man."

"Are you...sure? You're positive?" he asked, wanting to make sure. Hearing the other become so concerned of the Belforma, he couldn't help but grin. It was nice, hearing Luca worry over him, but maybe it would be better if it wasn't _too_ much. Wouldn't want Luca hurting himself.

"Yeah, yeah." he said throwing an arm over the boy's shoulder and pulling him closer as to where Spada could tousle Luca's hair. "Gees, Luca. If yer goin' to worry that much we gotta do somethin' about it! Don't want you hurtin' yourself."

"A-ah, right..." Luca nodded, as Spada took a quick glance around the room and took a quick peck on the other's lip and pulled away in just a split second, with his hands behind his head, as he entered the room first (while Luca followed behind, flustered at the sudden action, asking him what if someone were to even see them and Spada would just laugh it off as the door close behind the pale hair boy).

* * *

**Spada Belforma, Luca/Ruca Milda, RM3 (C) Bandai Namco**

**Leora (C) Me**


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